A review of the latest turn through the Mets’ starting rotation:
| Name | Innings | Hits | Runs (Earned Runs) | Strikeouts | Walks | ERA (Season) | WHIP (Season) |
| Matt Harvey (0-1) | 5.2 | 8 | 4(3) | 2 | 2 | 4.76 | 1.765 |
| Noah Syndergaard (1-0) | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0.00 | .667 |
| Jacob deGrom (1-0) | 6.0 | 5 | 1(1) | 6 | 0 | 1.50 | .833 |
| Bartolo Colon (0-1) | 6 | 5 | 1(1) | 7 | 0 | 1.50 | .833 |
Best Start: deGrom should get more credit for his performance in the home opener, gutting his way through six innings with all that was happening (National League Championship banner, wife pregnant, back trouble), but this is a no-brainer.
Syndergaard had hurdles prefacing his start (Kansas City’s ring ceremony, starting the season 0-2, media-invented beef with Alcides Escobar who then started the game with a triple), however Thor responded with an unhittable 95 MPH slider striking out the next three batters.
He dominated a squad, striking out six more against a team that prides itself on making contact. Thor would get in trouble in the sixth, loading the bases and facing a man who knocked in 106 RBIs last year. But after three straight sliders, the inning was over and the rest of the league was put on notice.
Worst Start: Matt Harvey’s performance on Sunday night wasn’t bad. He rebounded from a Gold Glove outfielder dropping a routine fly ball and his catcher just missing a pitch. But Harvey ended what could have been a back-breaking inning with a double play ball.
He’d get another double play ball in the fourth, but not before allowing another run. The wheels came off in the sixth, thanks in part to an Eric Hosner bunt that David Wright couldn’t get enough on his throw. Another double-play ball got Harvey one out away, but Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez ended his night with back-to-back singles.
Overall, this was just short of a quality start and his final numbers weren’t helped when Bartolo Colon allowed an inherited runner to score. But I’m sure Harvey would say this wasn’t good enough for him.
Best of the Bullpen: Before Hansel Robles allowed a run on Friday night; the collective unit hadn’t given up a run. Granted, it was unearned thanks to a throwing error by Wright and the strangest double play of the year ended the frame. It overshadowed another brilliant outing from Jim Henderson.
There’s a great article about his amazing odyssey and he’s been equally amazing on the field with two perfect outings with four strikeouts. Howie Rose commented that during spring training Henderson didn’t perform as well on back-to-back outings, but here’s hoping that is an early-season arm-strength thing that won’t come into play thanks to the pen’s depth.
Either way, Henderson is helping people forget about the winter requests for better bullpen arms.
Next Big Thing: Jacob deGrom (1-0) is scheduled to go against Miami’s Jose Fernandez (0-1) on Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. in the final home game before a nine games in nine days road trip.
